ARCANUM

CHAPTER 40

RUBY POV

NO!

My heart immediately stopped when Manoban's body was slightly thrown back but did not make him fall. The faint sound of gunshots reached my left ear a few milliseconds later, while my right ear heard the loud gunshot through my earpiece. I took it off right away because my ears were ringing from the loud noise. Valdo Bykov has shot Manoban. The shot hit his upper arm, which Manoban was currently holding.

The biggest question right now is how Valdo Bykov got here when he should be in prison. Of course, he would recognize Manoban. While I was doing my part, I didn't hear Valdo Bykov's name mentioned, so I don't know when he got there.

But above all, the most important thing is to save Manoban. Valdo Bykov must have thought the mastermind behind his arrest was Manoban. He must have connected the two dots when he saw him here.

I don't want to buy any more time and rack my brain quickly. I remembered the time gas bomb I had set, and with that, I made up my mind.

"Punpun, I'll go back there. You wait here. Use these binoculars and see what's going on there. Manoban is in danger, and I'm going to get him out. If anything happened, we didn't get away or die. Take this Jeep and go to this place," I handed her a black business card with silver writing on it. On the card is the name of someone who works with the MS team. One of the correspondents in Central Asia. I showed her how to put the address into the GPS inside the Jeep.

"In the compartment, there is cash that you can use during the trip. But don't stop until you're far from here," I continued while pointing to the said compartment and handing my binoculars. After that, I rushed to the back and opened the trunk to equip myself before I got there.

I tossed my earpieces into the trunk and shoved my pistol, SIG Sauer P226 MK25 9mm Luger Caliber 10, into the holster on my waist when I saw Manoban's gun. Chrome Desert Eagle Mark XIX. He didn't take it with him because the enemy would search and disarm him. He didn't want to lose his father's gun. That's why he carries a regular one.

After bringing all the equipment I needed, I repeated the instructions one more time to Punpun, who nodded hesitantly but didn't hinder me as I quickly ran down the hill to catch up with Manoban.

I moved as fast as I could to get to that place until I was already a few tens of meters away. I slowed down and was more careful. Luckily, there are a lot of bushes surrounding this place that I can sneak around. My first goal is the building that is on the outside. After that, I will creep closer from one building to another.

I took a deep breath, and my heart skipped a beat when I reached the outermost building of my path to their hideout. After catching my breath, I hurriedly moved to another building getting closer to where Manoban was. I had already calculated when I would press the trigger of the time gas bomb to distract them. I had to be close enough to him, so I could get him out of there before the others panicked. A little bit more. Two more buildings and I'll press it.

I took the trigger of that time bomb as soon as I reached the last house before I moved to another one and pressed the trigger button. But before I could press it, I was taken aback. As I crept into the gap between the last two houses, a subordinate of Oraz Tagan was standing facing the wall while re-zipping his pants. Damn! After going this far, why did I meet someone who just finished peeing!?